Bucs News To Know: Lightning, Wet Field And Hard Hits On Day 3

PewterReport.com will offer a daily recap encompassing all that took place during the course of each 2016 training camp practice. Each day PewterReport.com will detail conditions, injuries, transactions, news and notes while also having a ‘Quote of the Day’ from a player and head coach Dirk Koetter. Of course, we will also post multiple full-length articles and daily blogs to go along with the ‘News to Know’ feature. Come back throughout the day for the best Bucs training camp coverage.

CONDITIONS
Dirk Koetter went with the odds, scheduling practices early to avoid the heat and the ever-frequent thunderstorms that seem to arrive daily in the summer. Today the house won, as storms rolled in during the first hour of practice and the lightning detector horn sounded around 9:45 a.m. Players were hurried off the field as one single shower across the region seemed to sit above One Buccaneer Place for nearly an hour. The team was able to get the rest of the practice in following an hour delay, but interviews were cut short following practice, and players were hustled back inside the facility.

INJURIESThere were no reported injuries during the practice, however J.R. Sweezy (back) Louis Murphy (knee) were observers again on Saturday as they are still recovering from injuries.

TRANSACTIONSThe Buccaneers made no roster moves prior to practice starting on Saturday.

PEWTERREPORT.COM’S BUCS PRACTICE NOTES• Safety Major Wright got aggressive in the first day with the players wearing shoulder pads and hit Brandon Myers and that started a small scuffle. Myers stayed on the ground a second, obviously trying to get his wind back before slowly jogging back to the huddle.

RB Charles Sim: Mark Lomoglio/PR

• While much of the talk on offense has ben Mike Evans, Jameis Winston and Doug Martin, the Bucs also have another talented player on that side of the ball that will likely get more touches in 2016, as Charles Sims has shown even more improvement from last season, particularly as a runner. Sims, who most know has great hands, is shooing more patience and just being comfortable in general running behind the line of scrimmage for the Buccaneers. So far through camp the versatility of Sims has been showcased and most likely head coach Dirk Koetter is scheming of ways to get the ball in the hands of the former West Virginia home-run threat.

• Linebacker Cassanova McKinzy was very physical on Saturday, knocking tight end Austin Seferian-Jenkins to the ground and then later followed it up by giving Russell Shepard the same treatment. Being an undrafted free agent, these are the types of things that get unheralded players noticed by the fans, if not the team. McKinzy still has a long way to go to secure a roster spot, but Saturday certainly made many take notice that he wants to be known as a physical football player.

• Whenever there is a scuffle on the Buccaneers practice field, or even in games, you can almost count on Joe “Brawly” Hawley to be in the middle of it and that was the case on Saturday. The skirmish on Saturday was quickly ended, but it will be interesting to see how Hawley and his teammates interact with the Jaguars and Browns during their joint practice sessions in August. For those who are fans of the HBO show, “Hard Knocks” they will remember Hawley being showcased a few times in practice scuffles when he played for the Falcons.

• It’s early, but the odd-man-out at defensive end might be George Johnson, who was a huge disappointment last year after signing a three-year deal worth $7 million. The Bucs expect young holdover defensive ends Jacquies Smith (seven sacks, three forced fumbles, one fumble recovery for a touchdown), Howard Jones (five sacks, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery for a touchdown) and Will Gholston (three sacks, one forced fumble) to improve, and the team has a pair of newcomers it’s excited about in free agent Robert Ayers and Noah Spence, a second-round pick.

Spence and Smith were dominant in one-on-one pass rush drills with shoulder pads on, and will be interesting to watch on Sunday when the team breaks out full pads for the first time. Kourtnei Brown has also bulked up into the 270s and has seen quite a few snaps on the second team at left end when Gholston moves inside at defensive tackle. Johnson needs to step up his game in a hurry and get to the quarterback or risk not making the team this year.

•All eyes were on Tampa Bay rookie kicker Roberto Aguyao, whom Bucs general manager Jason Licht invested a second-round pick in, at training camp today. With Saturday’s practice being the first open to the public, it was the fans’ first chance to see Aguyao in action.

The Florida State product made his first three field goals before his fourth kick, a 45-yarder, hit the left upright and was no good, which drew a few groans from the fans. But Aguayo made good on his last attempt, which was a do-over from 45 yards, to finish 4-of-5 on the day.

• Grimes stood out again on Saturday. He had another interception off a ball thrown a little behind the intended target Kenny Bell who tipped it before going right in Grimes hands. Samll in stature, but with outstanding leaping skills and overall athleticism. The free agent signing of Grimes is making Bucs fans forget all about the nightmare and debacle of the Eric Wright signing in 2012.

PLAYER QUOTE OF THE DAY“Yeah, we’ve got two monsters on the outside, and for this offense it works out perfectly with those glance routes and things like that. With Mike being 6-5, 230, and then Vincent Jackson being 6-5, 230, if I was playing Madden, that would be the guy that I would create, just the perfect human being for a receiver. And then you got me in there at 5-11. So I look up to him – he’s a 12-year veteran, just does everything right, and just a good guy to learn from. And then obviously I look up to him physically as well.” – WR Adam Humphries on playing with Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson

Photo by: Mark Lomoglio/PR

KOETTER QUOTE OF THE DAY
“Well, today’s the first day you can put on shoulder pads. You’ve got to go two days in shorts, one day in shells and then tomorrow we’ll be in full pads. What I liked was, obviously, these guys like to hit. That energy was good. What I didn’t like was that first team period was ugly, ugly, ugly from a penalty standpoint. We can’t play that way. We’re not going to play that way. And they’ll hear about it.” – Koetter on the first day in shoulder pads

UP NEXTTampa Bay will practice on Sunday beginning at 8:45 a.m. and the workout is open to the public.

About the author

Mark Cook currently is the director of editorial content and Bucs beat writer and has written for PewterReport.com since 2011. Cook has followed the Buccaneers since 1977 when he first began watching football with his Dad and is fond of the 1979 Bucs team that came within 10 points of going to a Super Bowl. His favorite Bucs game is still the 1979 divisional playoff win 24-17 over the Eagles. In his spare time Cook enjoys playing guitar, fishing, surfing and family time at the beach. In addition, Cook can be found in front of a television or in Doak Campbell any time the FSU Seminoles are playing. Cook is a native of Pinecrest in Eastern Hillsborough County and has written for numerous publications including the Tampa Tribune, In the Field and Ya'll Magazine. Cook can be reached at mark@pewterreport.com

3 Comments

surferdudes

Hey Mark, I’ve been hearing the players love the early practices, but it must be nice for the reporters too. Gives you the time to get your work in, and maybe catch more dinners with the family. As a fan I know I like reading about the days events in the early afternoon instead of the night. Keep up the good work.

chefboho

Couldn’t agree more surferdudes. I go on my break at work around four and I have the perfect reading material. As always, I’m the more quiet of us twins “cgmaster” but
I feel very refreshed this year and I think so much of it, is from feeling confident that at least we have a decent coaching staff. Back peddling for the line backers, screen plays, blitzing!? Who are these guys in Tampa? I’m staying optimistic and go bucs!